Angel Eyes by Eric Van Lustbader Read Free Book Online Page A

"Sorry," he said in a gentle tone of voice. "I sometimes forget that you have no field experience." A rebuke or simply a reminder of fact? With Godwin it was impossible to tell. "That's the way I came up, because that's the way our shadow world worked in the old days." He grunted. "You have your own areas of expertise, Russell, and believe me, I appreciate all of them. But it's times like these that make me long for the relative simplicity of the past."
    "Damnit, I know I made the proper decision," Slade said. ''I was sure that Ariel Solares would bring Tori in. A little honey on the end of the hook, because otherwise I knew, under the circumstances, she wouldn't consider it."
    "Of course she wouldn't," Godwin said, pouncing on the opening Slade had given him. "But if you had made her a friend-an ally-instead of alienating her when she worked for you, all this would have been avoided. Tori would be here now, and Solares would still be alive."
    The best course when Godwin delivered a verbal low blow, Slade had learned, was to ignore it. Godwin responded to points well made, not to cries of foul. "Solares was to pique her interest with a look at what he was working on," Slade said. "In addition, because there is still a question of her fitness, he was to maneuver her into a challenging physical and mental confrontation. He was meant to look for any deterioration of her skills. The plan was perfect: subtle and psychologically sound. But somewhere along the line Solares must have gotten careless, and someone took him out."
    "Solares was your man. You ran him directly. In retrospect, you may agree with me that perhaps, given your lack of experience in the field, that was an error in judgment. It was your call to make, and I didn't interfere. But now's the time to examine your motives. That's why you chose to run him directly, wasn't it? To lure Tori Nunn out of her isolation, to be ultimately in control of her once more.''
    "As far as the canning Tori Nunn from the Mall," Slade said, "I recall you gave your blessing to the severance." Immediately, he regretted saying it. In trying to regain control of me conversation, he had walked into one of Godwin's verbal traps.
    "I gave you my assent, Russell. Nothing more." The old man refused to give up an inch of territory; he was relentless. ''It was your decision.''
    Slade looked at him. "Do you mean to tell me now that you disagreed with it?"
    "Are you deliberately missing the point?" Godwin said, neatly sidestepping the kind of answer Slade was seeking. "It was your decision. You made it. Now you must deal with the ramifications."
    "What ramifications?" Slade said. "This situation is without nuance."
    "Bullshit," Godwin said, leaning toward Slade. "Your relationship with Tori Nunn is all unfinished business. Yes, you made the proper decision with Solares, Russell, but you must see that you made it for all the wrong reasons. The 'situation,' as you choose to refer to it, is fraught with psychological nuance."
    "I'll take care of Tori Nunn myself," Slade said angrily. "Okay? Will that satisfy you?"
    "I want my director's full concentration on this crisis, that's all," Godwin said soothingly. He paused to allow the tension to dissipate; no one knew how to orchestrate a conversation better than Bernard Godwin. "What have the caretakers come up with?" The caretakers were the Mall's group of forensic specialists who were sent in to analyze "wet work" sites.
    "Nothing as yet," Slade said. "For the moment, at least, the identity of Solares's murderer is unknown.''
    "Any guesses?" the old man asked.
    "I don't deal in speculation," Slade said, annoyed that the old man still saw fit to test him. "You taught me that, Bernard. Speculation leads, more often than not, to false conclusions."
    Godwin nodded. "You said that Solares got careless." He had paused to run his hand across the ruffled field of Hino crihison azalea. "Of course, there's another possibility." He watched, fascinated, as a furry